New Year cards and the eto

1.2027 is 丁未 (Hinoto-hitsuji)

2027 has the stem 丁 (hinoto) and the branch Goat (未, hitsuji): it is a 丁未 year, the Yin Fire Goat. 丁 is a gentle yin fire, like a lamp, and 未 is yin earth. Fire generates earth, so the two are in a supportive relationship. Like a soft light warming the ground, it can be read as a year when bonds with family and friends grow deeper.

2.Phrases for a Goat year (2027)

• May your year be peaceful and fruitful, like a sheep’s
• Wishing your whole family a gentle, happy year together
• Like sheep that live in a flock, we treasure our ties with you all
• We look forward to your continued friendship this year

3.Writing the date

• Write “Reiwa 9, New Year’s Day” or “2027, New Year’s Day” (元旦). Gantan already means the morning of 1 January, so you don’t write “January gantan”.
• Avoid the word kyonen for “last year”, because its first character means “to leave”; use sakunen or kyūnen instead. Other unlucky words, such as “lose”, “fall” or “ruin”, are also avoided.
• You don’t need to combine a formal greeting like kinga shinnen with akemashite omedetō gozaimasu.
• Two-character greetings such as 賀正 or 迎春 are informal, so for superiors use 謹賀新年, 恭賀新年 or a full sentence of respectful New Year wishes.
• Don’t send New Year cards to people in mourning; send a mid-winter greeting (kanchū mimai) between the end of matsu-no-uchi (7 January, or the 15th in some areas) and Risshun instead. If you are in mourning yourself, send a mourning postcard in November or early December.
• To arrive on New Year’s Day, cards usually need to be posted by about 25 December. The date varies, so check Japan Post’s New Year card information.

4.Themes for each animal

Lucky motifs and stories for each animal are on the twelve animals pages.